Horror Story
by Mereo Flere
Summary: It was a nightmare turned reality. At least, it was for some.


"Horror Story" by Mereo Flere

Disclaimer: I don't own The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

* * *

It should have been just an ordinary day. At the very least, I h ad hoped that the only thing I would have to deal with today was Haruhi's strange fetishes - and even then, Asahina bore the brunt of those more than anybody else. There are few things I would wish to do more than be able to tell a simple story of a boy that went to school, living a normal, but not boring life.

Unfortunately for me, normalcy didn't even last through the morning.

It was around 9 AM when it happened - a scream interrupting every class. While they were not at all unfamiliar to me, around the school there was only one source that it could have come from: Haruhi's latest victim.

And yet, that couldn't be the case. Right behind me, like she had been throughout the whole period, was none other than the troublemaker herself. The shock - or was it excitement? - on her face as she looked out the window told me that she was not consciously responsible for this. Before anybody could stop her, she bolted from her seat, almost not bothering to slide the door open on her way out.

People stared at the door, before breaking out into chatter. The teacher, having given up on stopping Haruhi, tried to calm the rest of his students down. I remained silent, unable to shake the horrible feeling in my gut.

Something was wrong. Horribly wrong.

* * *

Class continued normally after that, as if nothing happened. Occasionally, someone would glance out the window or whisper, but to them it was simply new gossip to pass around. Haruhi, however, had not returned, and that was only one of the growing concerns.

By the break, police had arrived, investigating one the club building's rooms. Before that, an ambulance had taken someone away on a stretcher - and before that the teacher's had seemed to seal off the area completely.

What bothered me most, though, was that the voice had seemed familiar, but I wasn't sure how.

The owner of that voice - it was like that of a friend that I had forgotten. Such an unreasonable thing, though, it couldn't be. Nonetheless, when I thought about it, it felt like my heart felt something.

Not a memory, but a connection.

As soon as the break arrived, a voice over the PA announced that the rest of the classes, as well as club events, were cancelled; a little late, if you asked anybody. Students were also instructed to head home immediately, though I had no doubt that few would actually listen. Murmurs of murder already ran rampant amongst the student body, but it wasn't something that extravagant.

If there were really a killer on the loose, we would have definitely been told so.

That didn't change the fact, though, that something had happened. Right, Koizumi?

"And here I thought I could get the jump on you," pouted our resident esper.

We were alone in the hallway now; everybody else had already headed off in different directions. Of course I would hear him coming, if he waited this long to come to my class room.

"You've noticed there's something wrong, correct?"

I nodded. "Only me, you, and the rest of the entire school."

"As you can guess, this is no ordinary event."

It never is. In a place where not even flu viruses dared to enter, for any form of attacker to arrive it would have to be one that was super natural.

"Do you at least know what happened?"

Koizumi shook his head, before turning to the windows close by. Through them, I followed his gaze, where cops sealed off the club rooms entirely.

"No, not any more than usual. We only have the results, not the process."

"And those results?" I asked, taking note of his serious tone. "Don't tell me the rumors are true."

"No, nobody died. With the amount of blood, though, it is not surprising that someone might think that, though."

Wait, blood?

"A single body was found in the computer club's room, where blood was sprayed all around him, concentrated a little more in front of him. There was no sign of external injury or wounds, which leads us to believe that there was another victim."

He paused, suddenly looking at me. I already knew what he wanted me to say.

"The girl who screamed."

"Exactly. However, we discovered nobody else at the scene of the crime - aside from our leader, of course."

I nodded. She did run off there, after all.

"Also, every student and staff member, besides the computer club's president, was accounted for at the time."

This was...surprisingly a lot of information to gather, especially since he had still been in class, as far as I knew.

Still, that didn't explain something.

"What was the president doing there in the first place."

"Apparently, he was running an errand for a teacher."

"And Haruhi? Did she see anybody there?"

"No," he said with a sigh. Clearly, he too wasn't sure how to deal with this. "At least, she hasn't said anything to anybody. However, she seems very shaken - but not the way she did back at the island."

The island. Back then, she had seriously thought someone had died. However, though she had been shocked, she had certainly done her best to solve the mystery.

So, she definitely saw someone, or something there.

Still, if she knew something about the case, why keep silent? What reason did she have to hesitate, if she was the only few people who might actually have been a witness.

Maybe she just arrived too late. Nonetheless, she would have cooperated even then.

"Where is she now?"

"Still talking to the police. Since she isn't talking, we should probably prepare to wait for a while."

I nodded. If Haruhi wanted to keep a secret, she would. She was stubborn like that. Still, it bothered me.

Why was she acting so strangely?

* * *

After that, we went in search of the others. Asahina-san we found quickly, accompanied by Tsuruya-san as well. A few minutes later, it was decided that it would be best if the two of them went home after all.

Nagato, though, was nowhere to be found. Neither was Kimidori-san, when I asked a student council member. According to Koizumi, all of the Aliens had left the school after the break, though they didn't know why that happened either. Needless to say, it was a little disturbing.

"Don't worry, nothing has happened to them."

"Do you know that for sure."

"Well, no," he admitted, bowing his head. "But, they are the ones you have to worry about the least."

He was right. If there was any danger, they would be the ones most capable of defending themselves.

Still...

Koizumi smiled, using the one he kept for when he figured something that only he or Nagato could understand.

"If this was an attack, then it wasn't aimed at them. At the same time, they had nothing to gain from instigating it either."

"Then why?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know. Perhaps they're looking into this case as well from their own ends?"

Somehow, I felt a little relieved now. However, whatever it was they were doing, there wasn't something an ordinary human like me could do but wait.

And wait I did, until the next scream came.

* * *

Koizumi and I had been sitting on a bench just outside the cafeteria. While I wondered what was taking so long for Haruhi to comeback, the resident esper went off to the wending machines after quickly losing a game of rock paper scissors. It was shortly after that it came - a girl's scream, from the direction that he had gone off in.

This time, I bolted out of my seat. Even if I disliked the guy sometimes, I'd never want something bad to happen to him. Though, if it was the attacker, I had no idea what I could do against him or her.

My fear was confirmed. No sooner than I turned the corner was I greeted with the sight of Koizumi, lying back on the ground, his shirt covered in blood. By his side were our sodas, one can spinning wildly as its contents exploded out. However, there was no sign of any girl.

Cautiously, I bent down, feeling for a pulse in his neck and wrists. After a long moment, I sighed in relief.

He was alive. While his heart was beating faster than normal, it was better than the alternative I had considered. Still, even as I called for help, I wondered just what happened here.

* * *

"Tell me, is he alright? I won't allow anybody dying as long as I'm Brigade Chief, you know!"

Haruhi had a look of worry on her face that I hadn't seen before. I couldn't blame her, though. One of our own - one of our squad members had just fallen. I couldn't even tell her that one was currently MIa, either.

Koizumi himself, however, seemed like he would be fine; just a case of massive blood loss. He even had a smile on his face while unconscious - though that may have been just the way he always was.

"Don't worry, he'll be okay. It's whatever that did this to him that worries me."

At this, Haruhi grew silent. there was no doubt about it - something else was troubling her.

"Do you really think someone's causing all this?" she asked.

Yes, I did. Inevitably, things always managed to trace themselves back to one certain person - you. The more direct, cause, though, was also somebody else.

"It's definitely not normal."

Usually, this was when Haruhi would get excited. Come to think of it, she did, back at the start of this. strange things always caught her eye, and this was definitely in that category.

But now, she lacked the energy she usually had.

"Kyon?"

"Yes?"

"Let's go catch whoever's behind this."

Her voice held no enthusiasm, and she didn't seem confident at all. However, for once I felt like I could actually follow her.

* * *

I had no idea what we were going to do. To tell you the truth, I don't think Haruhi had one either; we just waited inside one of the empty classrooms, hiding until sunset.

When we were sure the extra security was gone -an event I attributed to Haruhi as well - we wandered back into the main building. With a pair of flashlights, we walked through the halls, not knowing exactly what we were searching for.

No. That wasn't exactly correct. One of us had a clue.

"So, who is it?"

Haruhi stumbled. Even on her worst days, she never stumbled.

"What makes you think I know who it is?"

Aside from how you're acting?

"Earlier you assumed that someone was behind all this. Thinking it through, and given what's happened there shouldn't be any reason to suspect that an ordinary human could do this.

"Unless, of course, you saw her yourself."

Haruhi bit her lip, not sure how to respond. So, I continued, saying, "There are two common elements to both attacks. There was the state the bodies were in, and the scream. Neither victim is in critical contidition, but the source of the scream is still missing.

"Since you were the one who rushed to the scene of the crime first, you're the best chance we have at describing any possible suspects. However, you mentioned no person to the police, did you?"

She shook her head. "No, I didn't," she said, softly. "But that was because..."

"Because what?"

"Because, there was no way she could have been there!"

I stepped back, caught off guard by her outburst. Still...it was clear that Haruhi recognized that person.

"So, who is it?" I asked again.

Haruhi closed her eyes. "You don't know her. Or, at least, you shouldn't. You couldn't."

"And why not?"

She took a deep breath.

Then, released.

"She doesn't exist."

A fictional character.

That was the cause of the disturbance? But that couldn't be it - after all, I recognized the voice too.

"Who is it?" The third time, I've asked.

"You."

* * *

I didn't know what to say. Even minutes later, my mouth was still hanging open.

Haruhi just stood there, embarrassed.

Finally, I asked it. Just one word.

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

That didn't make sense. For one thing, I wasn't a girl!

"Not exactly you."

It would help if you "exactly" explained.

"It's a girl you."

That made a lot of sense. Really. Except, not.

"Why in the world would there be a girl version of me!"

"Don't ask me, it wasn't my idea!"

"Then whose was it?"

"Nagato's! She's the one that drew the pictures in the first place!"

The surprises kept on coming. Wait.

"There are pictures?!"

Haruhi reached into her pocket, and pulled a folded piece of paper out. I didn't ask why she was carrying it in the first place. Instead, I opened it up, and gaped.

A girl, about the same size as Nagato, with eyes an expression lifted straight from Asahina-san. Her hair, tied back in a ponytail, was as long as Haruhi's used to be, and the same color as my own. Truthfully, she could be what my sister looked like, in the years to come, but...

To describe it in a single word, she would be "loli."

"You think -this- is what I looked like if I were a girl?! Let me guess, instead of Kyon, you'd call her 'Kyonko'!"

"Now why would we call her that?" she asked, crossing her arms.

I didn't know why they would. I wasn't even sure if I was relieved that they didn't.

"Her name's Kyoli."

...then again, that wasn't much better. No, on the contrary, that was much, much worse.

* * *

I'd like to think I handled all this information pretty well.

Finding the nearest wall, I leaned against it, letting myself slide to the floor. Staring at the picture.

Haruhi didn't say anything, and instead just twiddled her thumbs as I did my best to ignore her.

It was then, over my second or third glance over, that I noticed something.

"So moe I died?" I asked, raising a brow at Haruhi.

She chuckled weakly.

"I just wrote that in absentmindedly. Don't pay attention to it."

I groaned.

But still, I solved the case. The reason why everything had been acting so strange: A meme.

There was, of course, probably some scientific term that Nagato would use for the exact reason, but that was all I needed to know about it. Of course, Haruhi wouldn't want anybody to accidentally die, but her powers tended to act in half assed ways at times.

Confronted with this Kyonko, or Kyoli, or whatever, they no doubt did what all people in anime did - bleed excessively through their nose.

Perverts. All of them.

"H-hey! Don't look at me like that."

Especially you, Haruhi.

* * *

I could only spend so much time trying to be indignified at Haruhi. Eventually, the third scream caught our attention - this time, only further down the hallway.

We ran. Haruhi was faster. She reached the classroom and threw the door open.

Before I knew it, she fell backwards, blood gushing from her nose, confirming my earlier accusation.

Catching her before she hit the ground, I let her down softly. Then slowly, carefully I turned my head to the room.

There, standing in the middle of a ring of thrown desks, was that girl, Kyoli, and one other. I recognized her immediately.

"Nagato."

Then, as if to report to me, she said, "Anomaly, captured."

I looked at her. Then at Kyoli, who looked at me with pleading eyes.

After a long pause, just staring at them, noting the placement of Nagato's hands and legs as she held on the other girl to keep her from escaping. Finally, I nodded, coming to a conclusion.

"This is all a dream," I said, closing the door.

The End.


End file.
